Two Nigerians based in the United States, Chijioke Timothy Odimegwu and Harafat Mogaji, have been sentenced to a combined 189 months in federal prison for their roles in an international cyber intrusion scheme that defrauded businesses of more than $2.4m.

It was learnt from a statement issued by the Public Information Officer, MacKenzie Tubbs, on Tuesday that US Attorney David Waterman of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement.

Tubbs stated that the two Nigerians who were residents of Delaware in the US were sentenced on September 25, 2026, after being convicted over their roles in the scheme.

The PIO noted that both convicts were members of the US Air Force when they and their co-conspirators attacked business victims across the country for nearly two years using email “spamming” and phishing campaigns.

Tubbs added that the suspects used the campaigns to steal usernames and passwords from victims’ employee email accounts before using the credentials to facilitate the fraud.

The PIO stated that the defendants and their co-conspirators also used “spoofed” email addresses mimicking those associated with victims or their business partners to communicate with the businesses and redirect payments to accounts controlled by the conspiracy.

Tubbs stated, “They and their co-conspirators then used these stolen credentials, along with ‘spoofed’ email addresses mimicking emails associated with the victim or its business partners, to communicate with their victims and redirect payments to and from the victims’ trusted business partners to accounts controlled by the defendants’ co-conspirators.”

She noted that Odimegwu and Mogaji, working with co-conspirators in the US and abroad, fraudulently diverted more than $1.68m in a wire transfer sent by a victim in Iowa City, Iowa, to a bank account in Chicago controlled by the conspiracy.

She added that the pair also diverted more than $720,000 sent by a victim in Ohio to a bank account controlled by the conspiracy.

“These are in addition to many other attempts Odimegwu and Mogaji made to divert wire transfers made by businesses in Iowa and across the country,” Tubbs stated.

The PIO stated that the suspects also harvested financial information from victims during their spamming and phishing campaigns.

According to her, the information included financial account numbers and other financial information, personal identification numbers, and credit and debit card numbers.

She stated that the stolen information included credit card details belonging to a non-profit organisation in Pella, Iowa.

Tubbs stated that the suspects also purchased similar stolen information from their co-conspirators.

“They would then use the stolen information to make and attempt financial transactions without their victims’ knowledge or authorisation,” she stated.

The Public Information Officer added that the suspects exchanged the stolen information with one another and attempted to use it to make purchases using information obtained from victims across the country.

“Odimegwu was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 111 months and ordered to pay restitution for $366,617.59.

“Mogaji was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 78 months and ordered to pay restitution of $995,680.45. Both were taken into custody following sentencing.

“After completing their prison terms, Odimegwu and Mogaji will each serve a three-year term on supervised release,” she noted. (The PUNCH)